Not hysterical over hysterectomies?

Hysterectomies are one of the most frequently per-formed surgeries among women (One in three before the age of 60) in the United States.

Because a large portion (40 percent) of hysterectomies are being performed due to fibroid tumors and removal of them, ‘Black’ women are the most likely to have them done and are also more likely to be less informed by their Physicians about alternatives to hysterectomy.But what is causing these uterine disturbances within women that make hysterectomies even seen like a viable solution in the first place?

The sexual organs are the storage center for the creative life-force. In women, that creative ground-zero is the uterus and as such it is the female foundation and emotional command center. Emotional memories (past relationships and emotional experiences) are stored in the uterus, which also makes it the seat of female intuition and feeling.

The ancient indigenous cultures of the world intimately understood the principle of the womb and its effects as the core of the female physical and spiritual anatomy and its overall effect on the general cultivation of all human nature.

The Kemetans of Ancient Egypt identified this principle of personal cultivation through sexual energy as ‘Het-Heru.’ Het-Heru (house of heru)was defined as an active feminine principle (female gonads) that housed, stimulated and creatively channeled the active male principle of Heru or the Hero(male gonads.)

The key to the creative stimulation of sexual energy by the uterus has been defined in reflexology as ‘ecstatic acupressure,’ which is strategically placed pressure or stimulation on points around or within the female body that produces a powerfully energizing and pleasing effect which induces creativity, movement, growth, healing, and enlightenment through the Het-Heru principles of music, dance (belly dancing/core movement), color, beauty and creativity.

So what happens when the uterus is dysfunctional or removed?

Galen, a prominent Greek physician from the 2nd century who was heavily influenced by the Kemetic knowledge of Egypt, wrote that hysteria(from the greek word hystera meaning womb) was a “disease caused by sexual deprivation in particularly passionate women” and that “hysteria was noted quite often in virgins, nuns, widows and, occasionally, married women.” The prescription in medieval and renaissance medicine was intercourse if married, marriage if single, or vaginal/pelvic massage by a midwife as a last recourse.

Galen’s narrative on the subject of hysteria goes into the physical aspect of womb stimulation but misses the mark on the spiritual perspective and overall motives of womb healing. His is a view that was mirrored and remained mainly un-changed by Western Medicine almost 2,000 years later!

By the mid-19th century, female hysteria was defined as an ‘anxiety neuroses catch all’ (schizophrenia, epilepsy, anxiety attacks)medical diagnosis, made exclusively in women, which is today no longer recognized by modern medical authorities as a medical disorder.

The diagnosis and treatment of vibrating devices (chairs, hand-held devices, water jets) and hyster/clitoridectomies were routine for ‘diagnosed’ women living in Western Europe. Women considered to be suffering from hysteria exhibited a wide array of symptoms including faintness, nervousness, sexual desire, insomnia, fluid retention, heaviness in abdomen, muscle spasm, shortness of breath, irritability, loss of appetite for food or sex, and “a tendency to cause trouble”.

In today’s Western medical perspective, so much is still misunderstood or ignored about the true purpose of the uterus beyond its role in reproduction. Little is known about the various opiates, chemicals, hormones, and hormone precursors that the uterus secretes with such vigor, like the cannabinoid neurotransmitter anandamide (from the Sanskrit ‘ananda’ meaning bliss and delight’)and its connection to the overall female spiritual consciousness, health and well-being, during pre and post menopause!

So, back to our original question – with so many fundamental and holistic aspects to the womb, how and why does the uterus become disturbed, with fibroids, endometriosis, etc. in the first place?

Seeking out natural remedies, holistic health coaching, healthy foods and turning to spiritual practices to manage stress are some of the alternatives that are gaining traction today as more women seek self-empowerment through correct information on an issue that has become an epidemic, especially among ‘African American’ women. You have options and alternatives to hysterectomy, but whatever you decide to do, ensure it is a personal choice you need to make, can accept and more importantly, a choice that you and your precious uterus can live with.